Open AccessResearch priorities to address the global burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) in the next decade
Author(s) -
Davies Adeloye,
Dhiraj Agarwal,
Peter J. Barnes,
Marcel Bonay,
Job F M van Boven,
Jamie Bryant,
Gaetano Caramori,
David H. Dockrell,
Anthony D’Urzo,
Magnus Ekström,
Gregory E. Erhabor,
Cristóbal Esteban,
Catherine M. Greene,
John R. Hurst,
Sanjay Juvekar,
Ee Ming Khoo,
Fanny Wai San Ko,
Brian J. Lipworth,
José Luís López-Campos,
Matthew Maddocks,
David M. Mannino,
Fernando J. Martínez,
Miguel Ángel MartínezGarcía,
Renae J McNamara,
Marc Miravitlles,
Hilary Pinnock,
Alison Pooler,
Jennifer Quint,
Peter Schwarz,
George M. Slavich,
Peige Song,
Andrew Tai,
Henrik Watz,
Jadwiga A. Wedzicha,
Michelle C. Williams,
Harry Campbell,
Aziz Sheikh,
Igor Rudan
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of global health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.581
H-Index - 34
eISSN - 2047-2986
pISSN - 2047-2978
DOI - 10.7189/jogh.11.15003
Subject(s) - copd , medicine , pulmonary rehabilitation , psychological intervention , scarcity , global health , pulmonary disease , equity (law) , health care , intensive care medicine , family medicine , public health , nursing , political science , psychiatry , law , economics , microeconomics
Background The global prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) has increased markedly in recent decades. Given the scarcity of resources available to address global health challenges and respiratory medicine being relatively under-invested in, it is important to define research priorities for COPD globally. In this paper, we aim to identify a ranked set of COPD research priorities that need to be addressed in the next 10 years to substantially reduce the global impact of COPD. Methods We adapted the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative (CHNRI) methodology to identify global COPD research priorities. Results 62 experts contributed 230 research ideas, which were scored by 34 researchers according to six pre-defined criteria: answerability, effectiveness, feasibility, deliverability, burden reduction, and equity. The top-ranked research priority was the need for new effective strategies to support smoking cessation. Of the top 20 overall research priorities, six were focused on feasible and cost-effective pulmonary rehabilitation delivery and access, particularly in primary/community care and low-resource settings. Three of the top 10 overall priorities called for research on improved screening and accurate diagnostic methods for COPD in low-resource primary care settings. Further ideas that drew support involved a better understanding of risk factors for COPD, development of effective training programmes for health workers and physicians in low resource settings, and evaluation of novel interventions to encourage physical activity. Conclusions The experts agreed that the most pressing feasible research questions to address in the next decade for COPD reduction were on prevention, diagnosis and rehabilitation of COPD, especially in low resource settings. The largest gains should be expected in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) settings, as the large majority of COPD deaths occur in those settings. Research priorities identified by this systematic international process should inform and motivate policymakers, funders, and researchers to support and conduct research to reduce the global burden of COPD.